Hall of Famer Hank Aaron plans Mobile appearances

MOBILE, Alabama -- Mobile's Hank Aaron will return to his hometown this week for a couple of appearances. The National Baseball Hall of Famer who spent 23 seasons in the Major Leagues is scheduled to make stops at Hank Aaron Stadium and the Mobile Touchdown Club meeting Thursday and Friday.

Hank Aaron waves to the crowd outside the Hank Aaron Childhood Home & Museum during the opening of the facility Wednesday, April 14, 2010, at Hank Aaron Stadium in Mobile, Ala. (Press-Register, Mike Kittrell)

On Thursday, Aaron will be the guest speaker at the Mobile Touchdown Club's meeting at the Country Club of Mobile. The meeting begins with a social hour at 5 p.m., followed by the dinner and Aaron's speaking engagement beginning at 6 p.m. The meeting is open to members only.

Friday night, Aaron will throw out the first pitch prior to the 7:05 p.m. start of the Mobile BayBears-Huntsville Stars game at The Hank, where the Hank Aaron Childhood Home and Museum is located. Aaron is expected to be on hand for part of Friday night's game as well.

"Any time Hank Aaron is coming to Mobile is a home run for us,'' BayBears' president and COO Bill Shanahan said. "Throwing out first pitches at The Hank are always an exciting event. However, when you get Hank throwing at the first pitch at The Hank, it doesn't get any better than that. Hank a great ambassador for Mobile all across the world.''

In honor of Aaron's visit to the stadium, Shanahan said special play-by-play calls from some of Aaron's biggest baseball moments will be carried over the public address system during Friday night's fireworks show following the game.

Aaron, 78, was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982. He boasted a career batting average of .305 and owns baseball's all-time career records for runs batted in (2,297), extra-base hits (1,477) and total bases (6,856). Of course, he is the one-time all-time home run king, having hit 755 homers in his career.

For information about Aaron's appearance at the Mobile Touchdown Club visit the club's web site at www.mobiletouchdownclub.com. Persons wishing to purchase tickets for Friday's BayBears' game may do so by phoning the team's office at (251) 479-2327 or visiting the team's web site at www.mobilebaybears.com.